Riding Onwards
by Captain Buggles
Summary: As the son of a skilled Rhyhorn racer, Calem has always been interested in riding Pokemon of his own...And many more than just Rhyhorn, at that. But with four new friends, a weird evil team, an even greater evil behind it, a hot professor, and the challenges of being a teenager, his dream isn't quite the straight path he imagined. Has shipping, but it isn't really the focus.
1. Get Your Goat

**Riding Onwards**

**Hey, so yeah, me here with a Kalos fic. Yeah, so original, I know. But hopefully, what I have in mind will be more interesting than "hurrdurrblurr ima just bumble around and get me sum badges and spend forty chappurs flirting with hte female lead lol". Go ahead, see what you think.**

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It was a warm, gorgeous morning in quaint Aquacorde Town, and people and Pokemon alike milled about casually, enjoying the start of their day. And for five special children, it wasn't just any day. It was the day nearly every adventurous child dreamed of, the day they would go on a Pokemon journey. They were all going to start together, and their future Pokemon were right in front of them! Oh, what a joyous day! ...If only the fifth child could hurry up and meet the other four, who were sitting around a table and growing more impatient by the moment

"Not to be rude but… this…this 5th new Trainer isn't the most punctual fellow, is he?" a short, proper boy said in a low, timid voice, as if his comment was incredibly scandalous. His most easily identifiable feature was his hair, bright orange and rounded in such a way that it made his head seem unusually large.

"I've seen a Slugma get places faster, I'll put it that way." a tan-skinned girl with brown hair half-jokingly answered. It was obvious she was trying to sound cheery, but shades of anxiety colored her tone.

"...Y'know, Trevs and I already have Pokemon...and you guys are here already...and 4/5 is 80%, which isn't all that ba-" a large, heavyset young man started to say, while looking down and twiddling his fingers.

"A-are you suggesting we ditch him, Tierno?!" the orange-haired boy cried in disbelief.

"It's not 'ditching', it's just… a 'head start', is all. Don't get so worked up, Trevs. "

"But this is a glorious day for any prospective Trainer! To betray his expectations so early on would be insulting to everyone! To him, to his family, to Professor Sycamore especially!" 'Trevs', or Trevor, lectured. Tierno simply sighed good-naturedly as a girl with long, blonde hair began to speak.

"He's got 'amore' in his name…" the girl sighed dreamily.

"Serena, we all get it, the Professor is an attractive man, can you please not get like that every time he's mentioned, with all due respect?" Trevor cried.

"You're just too busy wondering what the 5th guy is gonna look like to fully appreciate the glory of the Professor." Serena teased, causing Trevor's face to go red.

"That's not-" Trevor began indignantly, but he was interrupted by the tan-skinned girl, who always loved siding with Serena in times like these.

"He's totally hot, just so you know. We saw him when we...well, when we TRIED to pick him up earlier. He still had a bedhead and he was still in his pajamas, but it was so cute to see him get all worked up over a couple of girls visiting~" she said coyly.

"T-that's not important, Shauna, and you know it! It's what's on the inside that-" Trevor sputtered, before being interrupted.

"You're among friends, you don't gotta tell little white lies to make yourself look good!" Shauna teased further. Once Trevor began blushing so hard he felt the need to cover his face, she began to giggle uncontrollably.

"You guys are a bunch of children!" Trevor cried in exasperation.

"Says the shortest one here." Serena muttered, prompting Shauna and even Tierno to laugh, although they quickly stopped as Shauna looked up and happened to notice several people in the distance quickly moving out of something's way.

"What's going on over there?" Tierno wondered out loud, following Shauna's line of sight. He didn't have to wonder much longer, it quickly became apparent what it was. A teenage boy dressed in an easily distinguishable red hat and blue and white jacket was dashing right towards them on a Skiddo's back.

"He finally made it!" Shauna squealed, standing up in excitement.

"That's what I call fashionably late." Tierno said with a chuckle.

"_Jeez, who does he think he is?_" Serena mumbled, not quite appreciating the vibe of careless superiority such a dramatic and unorthodox entrance gave off.

Finally, the Skiddo slowed to a halt just in front of the table, and the teen quickly glanced at everyone before dismounting his steed.

"Uh...sorry...were you all waiting for me? Is that why you were at my door earlier?" the boy asked somewhat sheepishly, giving a slightly worried smile.

Trevor gulped discreetly, he really was quite an attractive boy...especially with a smile like that.

"Yeah! Not to be rude, but you should try to be a little faster! Didn't you already know about this?" Shauna asked sincerely, the smile had melted most of her annoyance into something more like concern.

"Technically yeah, but I thought it was more of a recommendation. I didn't know you completely expected my attendance. I already have Conrad here, so I didn't need a starter… so I just thought it was some optional journey-starting celebration or orientation or something…heh." the boy explained hesitantly, gesturing to the Skiddo as he said 'Conrad'.

"_Unbelievable._" Serena thought with a fake smile. "_Come in like you're the boss, but you hardly even have enough sense in that cute little head of yours...Wait, **cute**?!_"

"Well, we're just glad you're here! Now we can truly experience the unity and joy of starting a journey together!" Trevor gushed happily, earning knowing smirks and glances from everyone but the new boy and Conrad. Noticing this, Trevor blushed a little and shrank back somewhat. "If that's fine with you, anyway…"

"Well, it seemed annoying to be honest... But now that I'm standing here, I'm feeling pretty guilty and awkward about all that…" the boy admitted hesitantly.

"Well, that's fine, no hard feelings! Name's Tierno! Future lord of dance!" Tierno said, grabbing the new boy's hand to give him an incredibly powerful handshake.

"I'm Calem…" the boy answered sheepishly, even when Tierno let go he could still feel the grip lingering.

"I'm Shauna!" Shauna said, clasping her hands together excitedly. "The other girl is Serena. She might be a little testy from the wait, but she's nice, honestly." Serena flinched as Shauna said that, was her smile really that fake? "And over there, we have Trevor! Don't worry about him, he likes you already~" Shauna said with just enough teasing inflection and emphasis to make it significant, causing Trevor to give her an annoyed and flustered glance.

"Well, uh, nice to meet you all…" Calem fell back on the simple pleasantry because he really felt like there wasn't much more to be said, and he really wasn't trying to get caught up in social matters so soon.

"Yeah, you too!" Shauna answered cheerfully. "It's really a shame though, this means that one of these Pokemon on the table isn't going to be chosen right now!" Shauna said, pouting a bit.

"I'd love to, really, but I had a special sort of goal in mind, and I can't really choose any of them…" Calem said.

"Oh, do go on…" Serena said with a bland, vague sort of faux interest. First he rides in late on a Skiddo, then he butters everyone up with his apologetic, ignorant talk, now he's talking about how he's too good for some of the region's rarest Pokemon because he's 'special'. This kid was just a card.

"W-well." Calem said, glancing at Serena. She stiffened her upper lip, she could practically feel him catching on to her, and it wasn't really a good feeling. "It's not like I expect to be Champion or anything, I just, uh, wanted a certain kind of team... On my team, every member will be fit for me to ride… since my mom is a Rhyhorn racer… S-so I've always thought, why not other Pokemon too?" Calem said, starting to feel a little silly. Here he was, late and new, already acting like he knew just what he was doing.

"That's really interesting! I wanted a team of dancers, myself!" Tierno said, his heart much more forgiving than Serena's.

"My desire is to complete the Pokedex..." Trevor added in, quickly yet quietly.

"That's really interesting, you guys!" Calem said, making a concerted effort to be agreeable from that point on. "What about you two?" he asked, turning towards Serena and Shauna.

"Well, I don't really know! I just want to have fun and meet new people, basically! But I bet I'll figure something else out as I go!" Shauna answered almost immediately, in a bubbly tone.

Serena took a moment longer to answer, but she tried her best to be kind about it. It wasn't really professional to be /too/ rude, she figured. And there were some things she didn't want to just go telling some stranger yet, so there was that... "I'm gonna be the Champion. No frills, no distractions, that's just it right there." Unfortunately, it didn't come out quite as sunny as she wanted, and Calem's careful ears picked that up.

"That's...that's great! Heh, I just moved here, but I've already been studying this region for a while...I mean, it'd be pretty silly to go in blind, right?" Calem said sheepishly.

"People can do it however they want it. But really, what's a little studying gonna do? It's not all about books." Serena said somewhat dismissively, although her tone made it seem like she was barely even talking to Calem.

"Y-yeah, you're right, there really is nothing like experience…" Calem replied, feeling a little intimidated.

"You and that Skiddo of yours were going to just go barging off into the wild, thinking you know everything and don't need anyone, huh?" Serena said, once more with her rude 'only-sort-of-talking-to-you' tone. Shauna gave her friend a quick, knowing glare without actually turning her head.

"W-well...that's not how I meant it, really." Calem responded apologetically, before Shauna suddenly broke in.

"No, of course not! It's just a misunderstanding, no big deal. Say, why don't Serena and I choose our Pokemon, and we can take turns battling you and Conrad!" Shauna suggested, waving her arms and speaking loudly in an intentional effort to temporarily redirect attention.

Serena took a deep breath before speaking. "...Seems like a good idea." she said in a measured tone. "In that case, go first, Shauna." Serena told her.

"Okay! I choose Froakie! It's as cute as a potato!" Shauna squealed.

"Is...is that a compliment, or-" Trevor was hardly even heard as Shauna excitedly grabbed the Pokeball containing Froakie.

"Well, the choice for me is pretty obvious." Serena said as she calmly picked up Fennekin's Pokeball.

"Okay, here we go! We're gonna battle like it's 1969!" Shauna said, as she quickly made a decent amount of distance between herself and the table.

"Uh…" Trevor quietly said in a confused tone, but once again Shauna didn't hear him. Calem wordlessly took his position a few meters away from Shauna.

"Conrad!" Calem firmly ordered, prompting the grass-coated goat to immediately jump out in front of him and take a stance.

"Froakie!" Shauna cried, as she threw the Pokeball high into the air and the blue frog materialized in front of her. "Growl!" Shauna called out, causing Froakie to let loose a deep, surprisingly malevolent croaking noise, which seemed to fill the air and caused Conrad to back away a little.

"Conrad, Vine Whip!" Calem ordered, hoping he could simply cause enough damage regardless. Conrad gave a short bleat and a vine shot out from its leafy collar with surprising speed and accuracy, giving a cracking noise as it hit Froakie's face.

"Pound!" Shauna cried, her voice now more annoyed. Froakie gracefully leapt forward and then made such intricate, zig-zagging hops that Conrad was at a total loss, and got a strong punch to the side of his face for his troubles.

"Okay! Catch it!" Calem said quickly, and Conrad quickly understood. In a flash, Froakie's back leg was caught in a tightly wound vine, and it was frantically struggling to get free.

Before Shauna could even think of another order, another vine claimed Froakie's other back leg, and the hapless frog was quickly yanked beneath Conrad's body and held there.

"Growth!" Calem called out, face completely stern and serious. A soft green light bathed Conrad's body, his vines becoming stronger, thicker, and tighter, increasing the futility of Froakie's struggle. In a panic, the writhing amphibian released a froth of bubbles, which indeed caused Conrad to get blasted on his back, but the vines were locked on so tightly it hardly even mattered. Springing back to his feet, Conrad picked Froakie up and slammed it hard into the ground, bleating angrily. When the irritated little goat finally let go, Froakie was too stunned to do anything as Conrad immediately followed up with a headlong charge, catching the frog beneath his hooves and giving it quite a good trampling. Hopping off of the unconscious Froakie with a look of satisfaction, Conrad ran back to his trainer to receive congratulatory petting.

"Wow…That was really cool! ...Well, I lost, but still! Were you watching the whole time, guys?! That was so cool! Both our Pokemon looked awesome!" Shauna gushed, as she picked up her new Froakie and held it close. Without warning, every cut and bruise on the Froakie's body steadily vanished within seconds. "There you go, nice and healthy!" Shauna said cheerily. Calem's mouth fell open on the spot.

"How did you just…" Calem started, whipping his head around to see the reactions of others. No one else even seemed to notice.

"Hm? It's a Potion, silly! I know you're sharper than that." Shauna said, innocently and teasingly. She was indeed holding an empty Potion bottle in her free hand, but Calem could've sworn it wasn't there literally just a second earlier. He probably just needed to calm down from the battle….and Potions didn't work on fainted Pokemon from everything he remembered, but he supposed Froakie perhaps hadn't really fainted, since this was just a friendly match.

"Your Skiddo needs one too!" Shauna said, as she darted forward to treat Conrad. "Better not space out anymore, because Serena's next! Her parents are amazing trainers, so I bet-"

"Oh stop it, Shauna, I just do what I can." Serena said, lightheartedly waving a dismissive hand towards Shauna before standing up and turning to Calem with a serious gaze. "But I can do quite a lot, so don't get cocky!" Serena called to Calem, as she gripped Fennekin's Pokeball tightly and jogged over to a place further from the table.

"I know! Good luck!" Calem called back, as he and Conrad took their positions once more. Serena sent out her candy corn colored fox without a word, her eyes seeming to burrow right into Calem and Skiddo.

"...You're awful serious about th-" Calem began to comment, but Serena was in no mood.

"Fennekin! Ember!" Serena harshly commanded. A volley of small flames shot out of the small fox's mouth.

"Your vines, Conrad!" Calem shouted, having anticipated such a thing ever since he saw Serena grab Fennekin's Pokeball.

"Huh?" Serena said to herself, under the impression he was ordering an attack. However, Conrad's vines told a different story. Whipping them through the air, close to his body, with impressive precision, Conrad bravely and stubbornly stood his ground. Almost all of the small fireballs were extinguished before they could even hit his body. "_Hmph._" Serena thought to herself, although she couldn't pretend that wasn't a pretty smart thing to do. "Ember! Change the angles up!" Serena barked to her Fennekin.

"Tackle!" Calem quickly shouted. Conrad managed to intercept Fennekin with a strong headbutt just as its mouth was starting to glow with flames, and the fox was knocked backwards with a trail of smoke and embers streaming from its own mouth.

"Growth!" Calem said with haste, while the Fennekin coughed a couple of times and quickly shook its head. Once again, the green glow overtook Conrad's body, and he seemed stronger, with his haunches more defined and his general musculature more obvious.

"Attack from behind! Maneuver!" Serena ordered, her voice hard and forceful. The Fennekin dashed forward with all of its might, straight towards Conrad. Even Serena was confused for a moment, at least until the Fennekin did a front flip straight over Conrad, landing an Ember right on his back before landing with a triumphant expression.

"Excellent!" Serena cried, pumping her fist in excitement. "More fire!" she cried out, but Conrad already had other ideas. Jumping to the side and spinning in midair, he neatly avoided the next burst of flames and got himself facing the Fennekin again.

"Conrad, the mouth!" Calem cried out. As the fiery little fox readied its next attack, Conrad's vines were already on the move. As the vines wrapped tightly around the Fennekin's head and mouth, the little orange and yellow fox could only let out a muffled yelp as it realized its own helplessness.

"_Damn._" Serena muttered to herself, as Calem gave his final order.

"Yank it in and Tackle it!" Calem shouted. Being forced to collide head-on with Conrad's Growth-boosted Tackle, Fennekin was simply too fragile to continue battling, and dropped to the ground.

"Huh…I lost…" Serena mumbled, with an expression stuck between disbelief and disappointment.

"It was wonderful to battle with you though." Calem said with a modest smile, as Serena picked Fennekin up. "Both you and Shauna."

"I suppose Shauna was right, I've just got you all wrong. If you can win against me with a grass type, you really do know what you're doing already. Sorry for being sort of rude and stuck up, Calem." Serena told him in a regretful tone, struggling to look him in the eye. It looked more like she was speaking to a small weed growing in a nearby crack on the ground.

"Well that's good, it would be a shame if you…" Calem started, his eyes gleaming mischievously, as he thought of his foolproof method of making friends and dispelling tension. Foolproof. He hadn't been comfortable enough to try it before, but he felt this was just perfect.

"If I what?" Serena asked, somewhat confused.

"...Kept trying to get my goat!" Calem finished, and then proceeded to laugh as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

"...Okay, nevermind, my opinion of you has plummeted once again.." Serena grumbled, unable to believe how utterly terrible the pun was. "That's what you keep your Skiddo around for? Pun fodder?" she said with mild disbelief.

"My, Serena, you caught on fast! I'd say you're…" Calem started, looking intently at Serena's Fennekin.

"Don't..." Serena groaned. Trevor, who had been quietly watching and listening, was in a similar state of disbelieving annoyance, while Shauna and Tierno actually looked genuinely amused.

"Cunning as a fox!" Calem cried, as if he were some kind of genius. Shauna giggled, Serena groaned, Trevor groaned louder, and the Fennekin mustered up a little bit more of its energy just to shoot a few sparks at Calem. "...But no seriously, apology accepted." Calem said, giggling nervously after quickly patting out a tiny flame on his sleeve.

"Some friend we made here." Trevor muttered sarcastically.

"I know! He's a riot!" Tierno answered with complete honesty. Whether he didn't catch Trevor's tone, or was responding honestly as a joke, Trevor wasn't sure. He didn't really feel like figuring it out either, not after hearing puns so bad they threatened to lower his IQ.

"Let me guess...you named the Skiddo 'Conrad' because it sounds like 'Comrade'?" Serena asked, hoping she wouldn't get the answer she was expecting.

"Nah." Calem said, actually surprising her. He then reached into Skiddo's grass collar and pulled up a vine. Serena cringed at what would obviously follow. "...I did it for the vine."

"Who besides a total internet nerd would even understand that stupid meme?" Serena shouted in irritation.

"But you understood, didn't you? You knew it was a meme." Calem said, with a wide grin.

"...S-shut up! Just shut up, before I break something of yours!" Serena said, blushing slightly.

"Oh, come on! I'm just…" Calem started.

"You're gonna say 'kidding around', aren't you?! It's a shitty, shitty goat pun, and I already fucking know it!" Serena cried in frustration. When she was met only with Calem's jokingly impressed clapping, she sort of wanted to throw a Pokeball at him as hard as she could. Instead, she just wound up giggling. But it was over as soon as it started, as she turned around and pressed her face into Fennekin's side. "Oh no…" she thought, feeling a bit of color come to her cheeks. "I thought I was gonna hate him, what just happened?!" she asked herself worriedly.

Ever perceptive, Shauna popped up next to her like an uninvited Diglett. "Seems that not even the mighty Serena is…" she leaned in closer, then finished in a whisper "_Punswayable._".

"DAMNIT, SHAUNA!" Serena yelled.


	2. Not-Viridian Forest

**Riding Onwards**

**Ch 2: Not-Viridian Forest**

**So yeah, just something I wanted to say first, I've decided this is going to be set in the same universe as my Wally x Ruby fanfiction.**  
**Not exactly a true sequel (hell, the original story isn't even done yet because I'm poop), but it is vaguely set a little while after the conclusion of it. (or at least, a possible conclusion that may not actually be the true conclusion, like a game with multiple endings) and it will be similar in spirit, if you've ever seen that story before.  
**  
**Don't expect much queer drama, no one in this universe will ever intentionally give Trevor or anyone else shit just for being queer. That's not how I want to portray the Pokémon universe, and if you want to see that kind of thing you can either read something else or just go outside long enough.**  
**Anyway, have fun!**

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After everyone recovered from the horrors that Calem called puns, the group headed off to Route 2, which was basically just a modest grassy path leading to the more impressive Santalune Forest. But it wasn't very long before Shauna got a bit bored. And when Shauna was bored, she got ideas. Luckily, her ideas were...usually...pretty benign.

"Hey, Calem, I'm sorry if this is rude or anything, but can I try riding your Skiddo?" Shauna asked. Calem wasn't all that surprised, she had been eyeing Conrad for the past ten minutes or so.

"Well yeah, but Conrad isn't super used to other people, I don't think it'll be all that easy to-" Calem promptly stopped talking once he noticed Shauna had scrambled onto Conrad's back the minute he said the word 'yeah', and seemed to be having absolutely no difficulties. They hardly even needed to slow down for her, Conrad was already leisurely trotting along with Shauna peacefully on his back.

"...It...it took me four days to do it that easily!" Calem whined, unable to believe how easily she had done it. "Get off and show me again!" Calem almost begged, his voice higher and more childish than usual.

"Uh...okay!" Shauna said, quickly dismounting Conrad. "So, first you sit down, one leg on each side…" Shauna said, as she sat down. "And then you ride it!" she cried, as she grabbed Conrad's horns and he immediately took off and did several wide, neat, considerate circles around the other four teens, this time at a quite impressive running pace, although Shauna was having the time of her life and didn't seem troubled or uncomfortable at all.

"See?" Shauna said, as Conrad stopped right where he started and she got off. "Easy!"

"Yeah, for you maybe." Calem sulked, completely unsatisfied with how naturally she had done it with only a vague explanation. Conrad tried to reassure him with copious head nuzzling, but it didn't have much of an effect.

"Not everyone can be a winner, Calem." Serena said with a mockingly sweet tone.

Calem suddenly coughed loudly, quickly said "losersayswhat", and then coughed a couple more times. "Gosh, excuse me." he said, with an innocent smile.

"Not in a million years." Serena growled.

"Everyone has different aptitudes, s-so I think it's important that we choose to forego all this conflict over our abilities!" Trevor chimed in.

"If everyone thought like that, Trevs, this would be the greatest and most boring world in existence all at the same time." Tierno responded.

"Boring?! If people could for once all get along, all put aside their differences and judgements, just think of how much farther along we'd be! Think of the advancements, the triumphs, the innovations!" Trevor cried, his small voice swelling with delight.

"You could get height enhancement surgery!" Shauna added in with equal excitement.

"I could get height enhancement surgery!" Trevor repeated ecstatically, before realizing just what he was repeating. "...Was that really necessary?" Trevor groaned, as everyone else gave in to varying degrees of laughter.

"I don't know, that's not really much of a big deal ever since the Hoenn fiasco exposed League corruption in multiple regions and it turned out they have a bunch of technology they hardly told anyone about…" Calem said.

"Eh, not that surprising. We have a close relationship with over 700 kinds of reality-warping quasi-magical creatures. People are the perfect combination of cruelty and curiosity. Do the math." Serena said, sounding genuinely bored.

"Not surprising? They nearly succeeded in killing legends, and the whole region was so complacent and brainwashed it was basically their experimental plaything!" Calem cried.

"Don't be so naive. There's something more to almost anything, if you look closely enough." Serena told him.

"Yeah, but the depth of it all! Making someone taller is one thing, but their biotech is unbelievable! Some Gym Leaders are hardly any older than us, but they've become all freaky and enhanced and-" Serena quickly interrupted Calem.

"Freaky? What do you know about calling anyone a freak? Can they help it? They were born into, or tricked into, something bigger than they could even comprehend. Groomed from the ground up, forced into everything because everyone else is so damn selfish they see no other way... Don't you know how lonely that must feel?" Serena broke in, her voice cold and forceful.

"I-" Calem looked around and noticed that no one was really smiling anymore, not even Shauna. "I'm sorry." he said simply, feeling simultaneously confused and ashamed by how he had inadvertently managed to be so offensive.

"It's fine. There's no way you'd know right off the bat. But...this is why I want to be Champion. Not just the title, not just a figurehead. I want to be the REAL Champion of this filth we call a region, and I'M going to run it just how I want it!" Calem was caught off guard by how utterly convicted she sounded. It was different from her previous declaration, which seemed rather plain and standard. Now it was searing and pulsing with passion, and it sounded like a great promise, a goal she would move the earth and skies to achieve. Although she was the same girl who lost to him in a battle and could hardly look him in the eye when she gave an apology, that suddenly became completely irrelevant to Calem. Her face and her eyes seemed like they were full of something that Calem himself felt he could never even begin to handle.

He didn't know what it was exactly, but something about Serena deeply moved him in that moment. It not only moved him, but quite frankly scared him.

"Oh, I love it when you get all fired up, Serena! You're so scary~" Shauna cried, latching onto her friend and giving her a completely unrestrained hug, her whole body pressed up against her.

"Calling your best friend scary…" Trevor mumbled in a questioning tone, but he got no reply but a shrug from Tierno.

"Sh-Shauna, you know how I feel about hugs like these! Get off, you're smothering me!" Serena cried, although now her voice had lost all the fire and conviction, and it just seemed like harmless annoyance. She was also making little to no physical effort to get the smaller girl off.

"Pfft, you know you can't get enough of me, girl!" Shauna cried, as she kissed Serena on the cheek with playful "mwa mwa" noises.

"Stop it, you embarrassing idiot! I was trying to make a statement and you're here messing around!" Serena cried, her face reddening by the second.

"Geez, there's no need to scare our new friend so soon! You're a lot to handle yourself, you know! Calem doesn't know how lucky he is you only just got your Fennekin!" Shauna cried.

"Are they always like-" Calem started in a low voice, as he quickly moved further away from them and got closer to Trevor.

"Yes." Trevor answered quickly

"...Is there like, some kind of sexual tension thing going on here, or-" Calem continued, trying to grasp the entirety of the situation.

"Oh, I'm not even entirely sure." Tierno answered, holding in a chuckle. " Shauna might just love everyone, but Serena feels, at the very least, _something_ way deeper than she lets on towards Shauna. She may look annoyed now, but if we tried something similar she'd break our arms." Tierno whispered to Calem.

Even with all the chatter and Serena being 'forced' to walk with Shauna practically stuck on her side, the group eventually made it to Santalune Forest. Serena now had Shauna on her back, which Calem couldn't help but giggle at, even though it made Serena both scarier and safer to him.

On one hand, she definitely wasn't mean, and it was comforting to see her be so comfortable and caring with someone. On the other, she only jokingly complained about Shauna's weight, and she didn't actually seem to be having trouble carrying her at all. Calem genuinely feared for whoever got on her violent side.

"Well, I'll meet you guys at the exit, I hear Butterfree and Vivillon learn Quiver Dance…" Tierno said, waving a hand in the air as he ran off with surprising speed for someone his size.

"And I'm sure it'll take a while to encounter some of the more rare Pokémon here, so I'll be off as well. Good luck, everyone." He said with a small smile, as he ran off behind Tierno.

"So, I have training to do, even though there aren't any Pokémon here who I'd be interested in capturing…" Calem started, but Shauna grabbed him by the sleeve before he could leave.

"Ca-leeeem...Can't you train with ussss?" Shauna said in a cutely begging tone.

"Shauna, he's just gonna make more awful puns!" Serena cried.

"We all saw you laugh at them, Serena." Shauna said matter-of-factly.

"It was..it was basically a reflex! It's like, you know, when you hear something so ridiculous you laugh just because it was so ridiculous?!" Serena hastily explained.

"Uh-huh." Shauna replied in a flat, sarcastic tone. "Anyway, we hardly even know him! This is our chance to ~bond~." Shauna said, with a sing-song emphasis on 'bond'.

"Well if he's gonna stay, you need to get the hell off of my back." Serena grumbled.

"It makes it harder for you to kill him if he sets you off though!" Shauna said, as if it were a genuine concern.

"...Thanks for implying how much faith you have in my self-control." Serena whined with mock dejection.

"...Okay, you got me…" Shauna said sadly, giving a dramatic sigh as she finally got off of her friend's back.

"Why'd we get stuck with the weirdest ones?" Calem whispered half-jokingly to Conrad, who responded with a grunt of uncertainty.

Quite predictably, Shauna was hardly serious about training, while Serena was amazingly determined. While her Fennekin had Trainers and Pokémon alike running for cover, especially with the high proportion of Bug types, Shauna mostly just climbed trees and ran around in the grass with her Froakie, attacking anything that happened to interrupt or startle her.

Shauna seemed to have a bottomless supply of healing items that no average starting trainer should already have access to, with no true mention of how she obtained them besides a brief, unsatisfying mention of her parents. And when she discarded anything, (all 100% biodegradable, of course) Calem could swear he never saw even a trace of it in the grass whenever he looked back. Maybe he just didn't remember where she threw them. Ever. Even less than ten seconds later. Not suspicious at all, no sir, he desperately told himself.

There was a period of time when Calem thought they were lost, but they were actually just stalling because Shauna wanted a Pikachu. Pikachu was basically one of the most overrated things ever in Calem's eyes, and it annoyed him to no end that every region had a native electric rodent whose main goal in life was to be obnoxiously cute and not much else. The fact that there was an 800-odd episode, completely played out show about nothing but a 10-year-old idiot and his unbelievably unrealistic Pikachu made his blood boil. So, in other words, he really, really wanted to just leave.

He could've if it were just Shauna. She was just a weird girl, he could handle her. But unfortunately, Serena respected Shauna's desire to 'bond' much more than she originally let on, and flat-out refused to let Calem leave.

"So did we catch one yet…" Calem moaned, he was hardly paying attention anymore, his feet were beginning to get tired, and it was getting to the point that instead of battling a ton of wild Pokémon he didn't even want, he'd just look at them with a glare that practically said "Try to fight me and I will skin you alive while your family watches."

"We got four!" Shauna said cheerfully.

"W-why didn't you tell me?! You know I was hardly paying attention!" Calem cried out in utter surprise.

"I thought you just stopped caring." Shauna said with a shrug.

"W-well kind of, but I still wanna get outta this damn place!" Calem fumed.

"Hold your Skiddo, Serena left to look for one with a Light Ball a little while ago, she said it'll make a Pikachu really strong! ...Don't try to run now, she'll definitely find you later~" Shauna said playfully, unphased by Calem's frustration.

"She completely spoils you but only yells at me!" Calem complained.

"That's my Serena for ya~" Shauna replied good-naturedly.

"Ugh, just get married already…" Calem's eyes widened a bit in surprise when Shauna actually seemed to get sort of flustered at the suggestion.

"I...that...wouldn't be bad, I guess." Shauna said in a quieter, more considering tone.

"Really?" Calem said, only half-surprised.

"I'm not sure, exactly. Of course I love her, but I'm not sure what kind of love it is. Maybe it's a whole bunch of different kinds… Plus, I wouldn't know anything about being a good girlfriend anyway, especially not for someone with ambitions like hers… She's the kind of person you can't hold back. If you wanna keep up, you gotta run...and you know…" Shauna said somewhat sadly, as she sat down in the grass and looked up to the sky. "I've never really felt fast enough." Shauna admitted, before the gravity of what she had just confessed dawned on her. "O-oh, uh, I'm sorry! Wow! Drama queen much, Shauna? Hahaha! I try not to dwell on these things, really!" she hastily said, as she jumped to her feet.

"No, that's fine." Calem said, actually glad she had some sort of normal human concern and wasn't just some weird, hyperactive, possibly magical teenager. "It's actually pretty sweet of you to admit that." Calem told her with a smile.

"Oh, it's no big deal, I'm sure tons and tons of people have been confused about how their best friend makes them feel at some point." Shauna giggled, still blushing a little.

"Yeah, definitely." Calem said agreeably. Before long, the conversation branched off into many different topics, they played with Froakie and Conrad, and Calem found that he forgot much of his boredom and frustration. After a while, Serena returned, looking a little dirty and sweaty but quite pleased, with Fennekin beside her, fervently attempting to rid its fur of a mess of leaves and dirt.

"I did it! I got the Light Ball and I picked out the best Pikachu to keep! I knew one of those damn rats had to have one!" Serena said triumphantly, depositing a Pokeball into Shauna's hands with a massive grin.

"Might as well put it on a ring and propose." Calem muttered.

"Calem!" Serena cried sharply, giving him an intense glare.

"Serena!" Shauna cried blissfully at the same time, latching on to tightly her friend. "Thank you so much!"

"I'm sorry, I forgot that marriage is nothing to take… light bally…" Calem said, as he began to laugh like a hyena. Everyone else just stared.

"Fuck, Shauna, this is exactly what I was talking about earlier! " Serena moaned.

"Aw, that's just what makes Calem special!" Shauna reasoned.

"Yeah, eSPECIALly annoying." Serena snarled.

"Cheer up, you got the Light Ball, now we can go!" When she noticed Serena still looked pretty annoyed, she changed tactics. "...I hear Santalune has some pretty nice cafes~ Wiiith caaake~" Shauna said, stroking Serena's hair as she did so.

"...Is...is it any good?" Serena asked quietly.

"I hear it's amazing." Shauna said in a hushed, comforting tone.

"...Okay, I'll calm down then. Calem, since you were basically a little bitch the whole time, you're finally free to go. It'll be dark in about two hours, but you'll probably make it. Probably." Serena said, as she began to walk away with her Fennekin, motioning for Shauna to follow.

"Wow, thanks." Calem said flatly, as Conrad quietly did his version of a snicker.

"Byeee Caleeemm~ It was nice to bond!" Shauna cried, before quickly catching up with Serena.

"Glad that's over." Calem muttered to Conrad, as he hopped on to his back. "Come on, it'll be faster with you. If I see another Weedle I might murder something." Calem said tiredly. Bleating in agreement, Conrad dashed off down the path, quickly passing Serena and Shauna.

"BYE NERDS!" Calem called back to them with the utmost maturity, once he was a good distance ahead of them.

"I can't believe I forgot he could just ride the damn goat." Serena mumbled angrily.

"It's the journey, not the destina-" Shauna started.

"I just want my cake!" Serena shouted.

"But what if…" Shauna started, with a wide smile.

"Shauna, I know where you're going with this, and I don't like it..." Serena replied.

"What if the cake is a lie?" Shauna finished, giggling.

"WOW, HERE WE GO AGAIN, BACK IN STUPID MEME CITY!" Serena yelled.

"Aw, I love you too." Shauna answered back, completely ignoring Serena's irritation.

Meanwhile, Calem made it to the city in under an hour. Ironically, it took the girls over two, between Serena trying to hurry and Shauna kind of but not entirely hurrying. And Shauna being cute and distracting in general.

Tierno ended up very upset and confused that he had never actually seen any of them at the exit of the forest like he'd thought he would much earlier that day. "Oh man…" he said to himself with a yawn, hours before anyone besides Trevor exited the forest. He'd even already managed to catch a Caterpie and teach it some simple steps. "Calem's slowness must be contagious or something… Whatever man, I'm gonna go have myself some cake." he muttered in a bored tone, as he wandered off into Santalune City.


	3. Aura So Help Me

**Riding Onwards**  
**Ch 3: Aura So Help Me**

* * *

Although it made Calem a little nervous to be out at night, Route 3 was nowhere near as nerve-wracking as the prospect of being lost in Santalune Forest when it was dark. So rather than be in some kind of frantic, almighty rush, Calem just calmed down and set up camp for the night. He marvelled at how he could easily see so many stars, since he was still a significant distance away from Santalune City. Even if he were closer, the main problem would be light pollution. Things like smog and smoke had become an almost nonexistent problem in recent times. Disturbing a habitat is one thing, but disturbing a Pokémon's habitat could have much swifter and more violent consequences.

Calem was sound asleep in his tent, in the middle of a very interesting dream about sombrero-wearing broccoli people when he was rudely awakened with a start by something small and incredibly loud and squeaky crashing into his tent.

"Oh, uh, whoever's in there, I'm dreadfully sorry!" a familiar voice called, as Calem and Conrad both groggily stuck their heads out of their tent to see what was happening. It turned out that Trevor was running towards them with a Pikachu and Flabebe by his side, looking incredibly embarrassed.

"Calem!" Trevor said with a horrified gasp and a bit of a blush, as he came close enough to recognize the face of his new friend. "Oh no, this is bad, this is bad, t-this is just deplorable!" Trevor said nervously, as Calem lazily got to his feet.

"Eh, whatever…" Calem said blankly, as he wordlessly pointed to the tent, now with the small creature trapped in it's folds, and Conrad got out his vines and fished around for whatever it was until he managed to grab it, with some effort.

The thing that had toppled the tent turned out to be a lively little mouselike Pokémon, light blue with a large, squishy ball on the end of it's tail, who frantically jerked and struggled about in Conrad's grip, causing the small goat to totter about unsteadily and struggle to keep a hold of it. "It's an Azurill I've been trying to catch…" Trevor said sheepishly, as he touched a Poké Ball to the frantic creature and it went inside, shaking the ball fiercely for a few moments before coming to a rest. "...Uh...thanks a lot for your help?" Trevor said shyly and awkwardly, smiling a little as he looked at the motionless Poké Ball before continuing. "...Some of them have an ability called Huge Power, which makes them a lot stronger than they look. Judging by the incredible struggle this one put up, I'm assuming it has it. An excellent new team member, don't you think?" Trevor said, as he smiled timidly up at Calem.

"If you call ruining sleep excellent…" Calem murmured nonchalantly, stretching and yawning as he did.

"I'm sorry! I-I really am! I can't believe I've had another bad start with you!" Trevor cried.

"No, it's not really a big deal… It was just beauty sleep…" Calem said jokingly.

"I'd say you've had plenty of that!" Trevor blurted out in his relief that Calem wasn't upset, before he quickly clasped his hands over his mouth and blushed again.

"Huh?" Calem asked.

"N-nothing, I just- it didn't really come out how I- Considering the fact that uh- ..W-well, for someone who just woke up, you...look good!" Trevor stammered, throwing in a desperate laugh afterwards.

"...Well, thanks, I guess." Calem answered, failing to see what the big deal was. Conrad made a heart shape with his vines, which flustered Trevor even more, but when Calem looked down to see what the grassy goat was doing, his vines were already retracted.

"Pokémon are...quite special, aren't they?" Trevor asked with strained pleasantness, shooting an irritated expression at Conrad. Conrad just gave him his cutest dewy-eyed look and playfully butted his knees.

"Yeah, they really are. I think Conrad likes you, you know." Calem said happily. Trevor forced back a blush as Conrad winked at him without Calem noticing. The little goat then proceeded to rear on his hind legs and lean against Calem, bleating playfully before dropping onto his back and exposing his stomach. "Oh, you're so affectionate today!" Calem cried with glee, not hesitating to get on his knees and rub Conrad's stomach. Conrad responded with utter bliss for a couple of minutes, before getting up and pushing Calem backwards to lick his face and playfully nibble at his jacket.

Trevor wasn't sure if it was more infuriating that a Skiddo was trying to make him jealous, or more infuriating that a Skiddo was succeeding in making him jealous. The smug, knowing look that Conrad gave him afterwards said it all.

"I-I think I should go, Calem, I'm dreadfully sorry for disturbing you…" Trevor hastily explained.

"Oh, really? Well, bye then!" Calem said cheerfully, as he got up and composed himself.

"Y-yeah, perhaps I'll see you soon…" Trevor forced out, stiffly walking away in frustration and embarrassment.

When Trevor had gone far enough, Calem turned to Conrad. "So you think he has a crush on me, huh?" Calem said tiredly. When Conrad nodded in response, Calem groaned. "...I thought so... It's kinda flattering... I just have no idea what to make of it. I've only just met him, and I wasn't actually trying to get so tied up with other people…" Calem said wistfully. "Come on, let's just get breakfast started. We slept long enough anyway." Calem told Conrad dismissively as he checked the time on his Pokédex and decided to mostly ignore the issue. With a bleat of reluctant agreement from Conrad, the two cleaned up and had a short breakfast, then resumed their journey to Santalune City. Since the battles were easy and there was nothing Calem was interested in capturing, there was a lot less excitement than Santalune Forest or when Calem was woken up by an Azurill. However, Calem didn't miss it very much. After all, the sooner he got to Santalune, the better. Because there, he had a chance at capturing a certain Pokémon that had nearly risen to the same level of somewhat overrated popularity as Pikachu, Eevee, and the Dragon-type pseudo-legends. A small, blue, Aura-sensitive canid that every 'cool' Trainer had to have.

In other words, a Riolu. For once, Calem didn't care that he couldn't ride it. He was going to get a Riolu, and that was that! He got to the city a couple of hours past noon and had a quick lunch, only to run into Serena. She looked incredibly annoyed, and she was walking with steps so harsh and heavy that if she were any angrier, they would probably leave small cracks and craters. Shauna was patiently keeping up with her while talking in an insistent, increasingly desperate tone, apparently trying to calm her down. "Uh...is something wrong?" Calem asked after them, causing Serena to quickly turn on her heels and walk towards him. The way she did it immediately made him feel like he'd made a grave error in trying to talk to her.

"Oh, nothing, Calem, nothing!" Serena said in a dangerous, mockingly happy tone. Calem took a step back. "It's just that apparently I, the hopeful future Champion of this region, have had my ass handed to me by some BITCH ASS wild Riolu!"

"Huh? But you trained so much back in that forest...come to think of it, how'd you get here so fast anyway, when'd you even wake up?" Calem asked, genuinely confused,

"4 AM. But that's not important. What is important is that that Riolu will PAY!" Serena yelled, clenching her fists in rage.

"R-right…" Calem muttered incredulously, hardly able to believe the blonde girl in front of him was even real. When he thought about it, Shauna wasn't really all that real either, being able to stay so bubbly and take everything in stride around a girl like that. Plus, there was that weird thing she may or may not have been able to do, but Calem didn't even like to think too hard about that. "Anyway...maybe Conrad and I could beat it. We have been together for a long time, and we did beat you guys yesterday…" Calem suggested. The two girls just looked at him curiously for a moment, before Serena adopted a completely unimpressed expression and Shauna actually started to laugh.

"Didn't you hear what I said before, Calem? You were lucky she'd just gotten her Fennekin!" Shauna told him, giggling even more as she finished speaking.

"So you two are saying we can't do it?!" Calem cried, as both he and Conrad wore mortified, offended expressions.

"That was no normal Riolu, Calem. It LOOKED like one, but then we fought it. We learned fast." Shauna started, adopting a dramatic, mournful tone as she continued. "OH, HOW FAST DID WE LEARN!" she wailed theatrically.

"Well yeah, but I think I have a good shot…" Calem said.

"Oh, really?" Serena said, putting her hands on her hips and handing two occupied Poké Balls over to Shauna. "Well then, I think it's time you know what kind of Trainer I can really be, Calem." Serena said confidently, as Shauna called out and promptly healed Fennekin and a recently caught Fletchling.

"This should be good!" Shauna said excitedly, as she quickly scurried away to a safe distance, then sat down on a pink, plastic folding chair and unwrapped a chocolate bar.

"How the hell did you even-" Calem started to ask, before Shauna gave a speedy reply.

"My bag! Who wouldn't have matter conversion storage these days?" Shauna answered.

"Yeah, but I didn't even see you reach for your ba-" Calem started again, but this time Serena interrupted.

"Are we gonna battle or what? I'm using Fennekin, same as last time." she said a bit impatiently.

"Your damn girlfriend pulled a chair and some chocolate outta fucking nowhere, just give me a minu-" Once again, Calem was interrupted, and he started to wonder if there was an actual point in talking.

"Just because you can't pay enough attention to see someone get stuff out of their bag doesn't mean you can't fight!" Serena barked, causing Calem to quickly drop the subject. He backed away and took a serious battle stance, with Conrad at the ready. However, Calem didn't pass up the opportunity to give a sly grin and point something else out.

"You never said she's not your-" Getting interrupted was really starting to wear on Calem.

"W-whatever! Fennekin, quick fire!" Serena shouted, as Fennekin fired off a small but rapidly moving fireball. Conrad was hit before Calem knew it, and that quickly caused him to get more serious.

"Conrad, wrap the mouth up!" Calem cried, as Conrad quickly extended his vines towards Fennekin.

"Not today!" Serena cried, as Fennekin nimbly jumped out of the way. "Cover with Ember and charge!" Serena ordered. The little fox complied, quickly firing off an impressive volley of small flames with minimal space between them. Calem could see they were somewhat larger and faster than they were the first battle, much to his chagrin. Fennekin than immediately began running as it fired them off, staying so close to the flames that Conrad's vines could do nothing. Although Conrad managed to avoid the flames, Fennekin leapt out from the cover as he did so and sank into his body with teeth and claws. Yelping in pain, Conrad immediately tried to beat the little fox off with his vines, but Serena had other plans, and Fennekin was incredibly tenacious. "Concentrated fire!" she commanded, as Fennekin raised its head with a satisfied gleam in its eye. Before Conrad even knew what was happening, the Fennekin leapt off, and he felt an excruciating burning sensation as the most impressive Ember so far relentlessly bombarded his body point-blank.

Conrad staggered for a moment and finally fainted when Fennekin gave him another dose of fire for good measure, leaves and fur still smouldering as Fennekin sat triumphantly at his side. Calem's eyes were wide with shock and embarrassment, since he had after all talked a pretty big game, only to end up with a battle where Fennekin emerged almost entirely unhurt. "G-good job…" he said to Serena, face reddening as he did so. "...S-sorry for doubting you…" he continued, noticing that he was the one who was having trouble looking Serena in the eye now.

"It's fine, I guess it makes us even now." Serena said happily. "You could even say I outfoxed you!" she declared with a wide grin, before realizing what she had just said and quickly clasping a hand over her mouth. Everyone, even Conrad as he steadily came to, looked directly at her.

"Did you just-" Calem questioned excitedly, his embarrassment quickly turning to glee.

"N-no! No I didn't! I didn't do anything! That...that was a completely normal way to put it! A coincidence!" Serena forcefully protested.

"Yeah, sure, okay." Calem teased, his voice oozing with skepticism.

"I'm serious! And as for what we were talking about before, do you see how big of a deal the Riolu was now?! My Fletchling lost too! It was unbelievable!" Serena cried.

"Well, I'll go see about it anyway. If anything, I'll just capture a different one. Maybe even a Litleo! Think of how awesome it would be to ride a Pyroar!" Calem gushed, his eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.

"I guess the thought's got you pretty...fired up!" Shauna said, giggling loudly as Serena scowled and Fennekin spat a small flame at her.

"Now you're getting it!" Calem said excitedly, as he pointed at Shauna with a wide grin.

"For the love of Arceus, just go do it already, get your stupid pun contagion out of here!" Serena groaned in frustration, as she slapped a palm to her forehead.

"Well that'd be cool and all...if /someone/ didn't practically burn my only Pokémon to a crisp to prove their point." Calem answered.

"He got you there, Serena!" Shauna called. "Hold on, I'll get him for you." she added on more kindly as she turned to Calem.

"I'd...uh...feel better if I took him to a Pokémon Cent-" Calem tried to say, but Shauna was already crouched down with empty healing supply bottles in hand, which he of course never saw her actually retrieve from anywhere. The whole sight was really starting to bother him. As she walked to the nearest trash can to throw them away, he felt incredibly tempted to search it later. But part of him was afraid he wouldn't find anything.

"Oh, don't trust little ol' me?" Shauna said jokingly. "Don't be like that, Calem, I wouldn't hurt a single leaf on your Pokémon!" she said cheerily, before adopting a fleeting, calculating expression and briefly giving Calem an odd, coy sort of look. "But do what you like, I suppose. You're a _real_ sharp kid, huh? Almost a little _too_ sharp."

"W-what?" Calem asked, thrown off by the sudden change in tone.

"Oh, nothing!" Shauna said, back to her bubbly, joking tone. "I'm just saying! Someone as sharp as you can be a little scary! After all, don't you think there are some things you shouldn't know?" Shauna said somewhat lightheartedly, in a way that made it impossible to tell what she entirely meant.

"...Well…" Calem hesitantly started.

"Aw, don't be so serious! I'm just saying you should be careful, is all!" Shauna said, as she ran over to Calem and flicked his chin playfully. Calem really didn't know what to make of it at all.

"I..I guess so!" Calem agreed, just for the sake of agreeing. "Well, I'm gonna go find that Riolu and see how it really is! Aura die trying!" he said quickly, eliciting a groan from Serena, a smile from Shauna, and a few embers from Fennekin. Quickly mounting Conrad, he rode off towards Route 22, some part deep within himself immensely relieved to be getting away from those two girls. Using Conrad to quickly cover ground, Calem searched a sizeable area for the Riolu and came up with nothing. "Huh." Calem said to himself, as he and Conrad took a break under a large tree. "Maybe they were just joking with me. Serena just wanted an excuse to rematch me, I guess." Calem reasoned, as he stretched out and fully relaxed beneath the tree. "Ha, as tough as she is and she couldn't even ask me without an excuse about some made up- HOLY SHIT!" Calem yelped in an embarrassingly high voice, as something small and dark blue dropped right down from the tree and crashed onto Conrad's back with what could only be incredible, pre-meditated precision, now standing on the poor goat's side and looking Calem dead in the eye. When Conrad attempted to get it off with his trusty vines, the little blue canid grabbed them lightning quick, without even batting an eye, while still looking directly at Calem. "Mother. Fucking. Riolu." Calem muttered incredulously to himself, eyes wide with astonishment.

The Riolu went through a curious sort of silent ritual. First, it squeezed Conrad's vines murderously tight, then looked him dead in the eye in such a way that all he could do was silently and meekly back out of the way, no longer looking the least bit angry or defiant. Then, it studied Calem all over, sniffing him and prodding him and looking him all over. Finally, it scratched its chin for a moment, then nodded, smiled, and did a graceful series of backflips to distance itself. It stopped several meters away from Calem before taking a battle stance and beckoning him with its left paw.

"So...uh...you wanna fight?" Calem asked the Riolu, receiving a stern nod in response. "Okay...well, here goes nothing! Conrad, Growth, then Vine Whip!" Calem told the small goat, figuring he immediately needed some extra power if he was going to win. Conrad's body became coated with soft green light, although Riolu didn't seem very intimidated, simply studying Conrad closely as it leerily bobbed from side to side on its feet. When the vines shot forward, Riolu stepped out of the way as if they were in slow motion and grabbed them, then gracefully spun on its feet and hurled Conrad several feet into the air before doing an incredibly swift leap to get just above him and then come crashing down with, of all things, a fire coated leg. Conrad screamed in pain as gravity did its job and forced the lithe little canine's weight deep into his side.

"...Blaze Kick?!" Calem cried, hardly able to believe it. "Conrad! Are you alright?!" Calem shouted, as Conrad weakly got up, the kick mark heavily burnt and bruised. At this point the Riolu only taunted him, running around him in quick circles while barking and yipping. His body glowing with another Growth, and with anger written all over his face, Conrad then used his vines again without being commanded. Smiling at the Pokémon's folly, Riolu grabbed them again… Only to find that Conrad had planted his feet so firmly that he couldn't get Conrad to budge, so he got reeled in himself, being met head on with an impressive Tackle. The Growth-boosted vines coiled tight enough to shut off circulation around Riolu's arms, and Riolu's eyes widened in surprise as it realized the little goat knew exactly what it was doing. With great speed, Conrad crashed down on one of Riolu's legs with a powerful leg of his own, causing the aura canine to scream out in pain. It scrambled out from beneath Conrad as his grip loosened, limping on the trampled leg.

Calem was impressed by how sadistically clever it was. By attacking a leg like that, Conrad had massively limited what was otherwise a very swift and powerful Pokémon. While breathing heavily, Conrad gave the Riolu a look of incredible intimidation. 'No one but Calem tells me what to do' could practically be seen written on his face and in his eyes. But even so, the Riolu did stand its ground, its entire body glowing metallic silver with an Iron Defense, which surprised Calem as much as Blaze Kick did. Conrad responded with another Growth and then got a vine around Riolu's bad leg, squeezing it mercilessly tight. Riolu's body flooded with pain, and its mind went blank. Desperately, it heated the leg up with another Blaze Kick, believing it would make Conrad let go, but in that leg's state, the attempt was just as painful for Riolu. And Conrad didn't even let go for good, he just grabbed on with his other vine. Tired of the little aura canine's struggles, Conrad flung it up high into the air and smashed it down into the earth, then came rushing in for a Tackle. Riolu knew this was its last chance. Quickly preparing an Iron Defense in only one arm, much to Calem's continued astonishment, it pulled the arm back and readied an attack. As Conrad met it, it threw everything it had into a Force Palm that hit Conrad dead on, although the force of Conrad's movement still knocked it backwards anyway. For all of its trouble, that arm, especially the shoulder, was put in a world of pain. As Conrad's legs buckled and he flopped to the ground, Calem got over being uselessly awe-stricken long enough to throw a Poké Ball at Riolu, who was having enough trouble standing up, let alone resisting a Poké Ball.

With three shakes and a satisfying ping, the Riolu was caught. Calem's eyes widened in disbelief as he picked the Poké Ball up. He'd done it! He'd actually fucking done it! "AW YEAH CONRAD, WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE CAUGHT THE RIOLU! WE DID IT! TAKE THAT SERENA, YOU AND YOUR OVER-TRAINED FOX. TAKE THAT SHAUNA, YOU ALL-AROUND WEIRDO! TAKE THAT AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR FUCKING ASSES, BECAUSE CONRAD AND I-EVEN THOUGH I WAS ACTUALLY KINDA USELESS- GOT THE FUCKING RIOLU! WOO! HELL YEAH!" Calem screamed, doing an unskilled dance as he did so. "CONRAD! VICTORY LA-" Calem looked down at the unconscious goat and froze. "Oh. Oh shit, I'm so sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I forgot. Come on, let's just take you to a Pokémon Center." Calem apologized with great embarrassment as he returned Conrad to his Poké Ball . Looking all around him with a massive blush on his face, he was satisfied that no one was watching and no one had seen. So he tilted his hat a bit downwards and walked back to Santalune City without another word.

* * *

Unfortunately, Trevor and Tierno also happened to be in the route, off in a nearby area that was somewhat secluded by trees and tall weeds and shrubs, and they definitely heard Calem's outburst. They were silently watching nearly the whole time. Tierno laughed first, nearly on the verge of tears, while Trevor was absolutely mortified.

"Some guy you've got a crush on there, Trevs!" he boomed, playfully hitting Trevor on the back as he continued to laugh. "A-all that, and Conrad m-mostly did it himself! O-oh man, what a riot! T-this guy is just a riot n-no matter where you see him! I-I think I'm g-gonna piss myself!" Tierno cackled, hardly comprehensible through all of his laughter.

"Okay, but he's still cute, agreed?" Trevor murmured, while blushing furiously.

"Whatever you say, dork chaser!" Tierno teased, causing him to laugh even more.

"Remind me to never confide in you about matters of this sort ever again." Trevor pouted.

"Whether you tell me or not, a dork chaser is a dork chaser! I always thought you'd like the bookworm type, to be honest, Trevvy-boy."

"One more word, and I'll have Pikachu run a current so far up your ass that your stomach will glow like a lightbulb!" Trevor hissed, immediately causing Tierno to fall silent. Oh well, at least he could always tease Calem about it later.


End file.
